Paddy's 3M Race Report

3M in 18:18 

First race of any sort in two years. It was fun to race again! I've missed it. Weekends are still very busy with childcare responsibilities, so it is hard to squeeze in a race. But I can see the trajectory of that gradually getting easier, so something to look forward to in the future. 

Based on my track workouts, I thought I could probably have run under 6:00/mile, and I suspect I probably could have but...man, I screwed up those splits. My sense of pacing has faded as I've raced less and done less quality. I caught my 1st mile split and then timed my 3rd mile: 5:38, 6:30, 6:10. If I had managed to go out in 5:59 I bet I could have done it. Oh well, hopefully won't be another 2 years before I get to try again.  

5,4,3,2,1 laps @ Leary

 @ Track at 6:20. Season is turning, so the first interval was in near-darkness. It was cool, almost cold, with a light breeze. In autumn, some thoughts turn to pumpkin spice lattes, others to warm sweaters, others to jack-o-lanterns and spooky movies. For harriers, it is 5Ks, and I've sure been putting the hay in the barn. Loosely following the club track workouts, this is the 4th consecutive 5K-oriented track workout I've done, and I'm starting to feel some improvements. 

Workout: 2000,1600,1200,800,400 @ 5K pace, with 400 jog rec. 

I keyed off 89s quarters. 

2000m: 7:32 (+7s). Lost most of this in the last lap--not sure what happened, since I felt like I had more in my legs--lost my pace sense in the dark maybe. 

1600m: 5:58 (+2s).

1200m: 4:26 (-1s).

800m: 2:53 (-5s)

400m: 1:21 (-8s). 

5,4,2,2,2 laps @ Leary

Workout was: 

 1x 2000 @ 5k+15s pace

1 x 1600 @ 5k+15s pace

3x800 @ 5k pace 

 with 400 jog recovery. 

 It was a beautiful cool, clear morning, no wind. In the first two intervals, I felt strong and relaxed, and felt sure I must be crushing the slightly backed-off pace. Alas no, my watch reassured me I was feeling strong and relaxed because I was just barely on pace. Doubled down for the 800s and and ran a bit under 5K pace. 

2000m: 7:40

1600m: 6:06

3x800m: 2:51, 2:51, 2:49

 

6 x 1000m @ Leary

6 x 1000m @ Leary, ~5K pace, with 400m jog recovery. Cool, clear, no wind--ideal conditions. I felt OK, not flat, but not a lot of extra spring. There hasn't been much time for strength training, and I'm sure it's holding me back on speed. 

 

 3:39, 43, 41, 38, 41, 37

3 x 1600 @ Leary

 Cool, misty morning. 

3 x 1600 with 400m jog recovery:

5:55, 6:00, 5:57